Careers, Opportunities, Guidance & Skills

At Beaulieu, we believe that preparing our students to take their place in society is important.

Our pupils will be looking forward to going into exciting careers which utilise their talents. Up to date, relevant and unbiased careers advice is therefore vital to equip them with the knowledge of what they must do to realise their career ambitions.

Careers lessons form part of the curriculum from Year 6 to Year 13 and look to help each student:

Investigate learning and career opportunities

Make informed judgements about learning and career options

Understand how these choices will help them to achieve their ambitions

Enable them to successfully manage key transition points

Primary – Year 6

We believe careers guidance is an integral part of education and our students are never too young to begin thinking about their future career plans.

We run a comprehensive careers programme in our Primary Department for our Year 6 students in conjunction with Careers Jersey. The students engage in a six week careers programme as part of their PSHEE curriculum, which introduces them to the subject, engages them in careers research and culminates in them manning stalls at a mini careers fair for the Year 5 students to pass on the relevant information.

Secondary

In our Secondary Department, careers advice is provided by Mentors and through PSHEE lessons for Year 7 to 11. Our Mentors and PSHEE teacher, Ms Rodrigues, take care to ensure students' individual interests and career aspirations are catered for.

Parents, Foundation members and supporters of the School are regularly encouraged to visit the School to talk about their own careers and offer guidance and advice to students interested in their field of work.

Year 7

In Year 7, as part of the PSHEE programme, the students are introduced to local labour market statistics and will interview their parents and relatives in order to find out more about jobs in the local labour market, before presenting their findings to their peers.

Year 8

In Year 8, a block of lessons within the PSSEE programme will be devoted to the development of decision making skills; this will lead into work on making decisions with regard to GCSE options. This set of lessons will be linked with the GCSE options day in March when the students will be have the opportunity to speak to Senior Staff members and Sixth Form students, who will offer guidance and answer queries with regard to subjects. Parents will also have the opportunity to speak to senior teachers about the process.

Year 9

In Year 9 students will play the REAL Game, in which they complete your lifestyle dream and evaluate how well it matches up with their career aspirations.

Year 10

In Year 10, in addition to spending time working on action planning, CV writing, learning about contracts of employment, bank accounts and pay slips and several weeks researching and presenting their findings on a career of interest, the students spend up to four weeks in Mentor Time preparing for their Trident Work Experience, which takes place in the last three weeks of the Spring Term. A considerable amount of time is devoted to studying health and safety in the workplace and on how the students should conduct themselves during the Trident interview. The pupils will also have the opportunity to complete an online Health and Safety Assessment and hopefully gain a certificate. The students will receive a reference.

Year 11

In Year 11, during Mentor Time, the students will learn how to apply for jobs by updating their CVs, filling in application forms, writing covering letters and personal statements. Senior teachers, advisors from Careers Jersey and Highlands will explain the post 16 opportunities to them. All Year 11 students are encouraged to attend the Careers Fair, which is held early in the Autumn term, giving them an opportunity to meet with professionals from a huge range of careers from across the Island, including Finance, Teaching, Channel Television and the Forces; Careers Jersey also has a strong presence at the Fair and advisors are available to give guidance on all career opportunities available within the Island.

A visit to Careers Jersey during Mentor Time will provide the students with the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the Island's Careers library. Whilst there, the students will have the social security system and its relevance explained to them. In addition, the pupils will spend time working on interview technique and will engage in a Higher Education research project, in order to focus thoughts on aspirations post-18.

The post-16 options evening is held in November - giving students information about the process of choosing their A level options and what the subjects involve. They will have the opportunity to attend presentations and to speak with staff and current Sixth Form student about the courses and what each entails. Following on from the Options evening, each student will attend a 1:1 interview with a dedicated member of staff. They will discuss their post-16 options in addition to current GCSE progress.

Years 12 and 13

The main focus of the Careers programme in the Sixth Form is to cover Higher Education and Post-18 options. The students will be given the opportunity to research universities and receive advice on how to apply both to institutions in the UK and abroad. Currently, the majority of our students apply to university or Highlands, but a growing minority have entered full time employment.

During the Spring Term the students will attend the Higher Education Fair, and an information evening for parents to explain post-18 options and the university applications (UCAS) procedure.

Careers Education in Year 13 will include work on interview techniques, grant forms, gap years and preparation for leaving home and school.

In addition, each student in both Years 12 and 13, will be offered a 1:1 guidance interview.

We strive to provide our Sixth Formers with work experience relevant to their career aspirations wherever possible and we regularly have Sixth Form students working in finance, law, marketing and accountancy during their school holidays. Our relationships with local businesses are extremely strong and our students remain extremely sought after by employers locally.

We also encourage our Sixth Formers to take part on one of the work shadowing schemes run locally. These include the Institute of Directors Work Shadowing Scheme and the Work Shadowing Schemes organised by the Construction Council and the Jersey Chartered Institute of Marketing. Each scheme provides our students with the chance to learn in a real business environment, whilst also building their confidence and their presentation skills.